50% Of 'Retiring' Senators Now Become Lobbyists. A few decades ago it was only 3%

[think]

50% Of 'Retiring' Senators Now Become Lobbyists, Up From 3% A Few Decades Ago

by Mike Masnick
Tue, Aug 27th 2013 8:42am

This is from a little while ago, but Hunter Walk alerts us to a buried gem in a NY Times' book review of This Town by Mark Leibovich -- a book about Washington DC that sounds just horrific (not the book itself, but the concept of wanting to know any more about DC). The review notes that Leibovich buried an interesting statistic deep in the book:

in 1974, 3 percent of retiring members of Congress became lobbyists. “Now 50 percent of senators and 42 percent of congressmen do.” No one goes home anymore.

We've talked plenty about the corrupting influences of the revolving door between industries and the government. Not all lobbyists or lobbying is bad, per se, but it's a symptom of the times we live in and the business of influence. It highlights the kind of "soft corruption" that Larry Lessig has been talking about for years, where it's not out-and-out bribery, but merely the promise of a cushy job down the road that can have tremendous impact on the way the government functions.

And, with so much money flowing into lobbying efforts, we're building a system where political entrepreneurship outweighs market entrepreneurship -- and that's exceptionally dangerous for our economy and our future. Political entrepreneurs -- those who manipulate the system for their own benefit -- tend to focus on locking up value, limiting competition and providing themselves with greater control over the market. Market entrepreneurs are more focused on innovation, expanding the pie and economic growth. Tragically, political entrepreneurs, via massive lobbying efforts, like to pretend they're about market entrepreneurship, and we get a system of crony capitalism that actually does significant harm to the economy. ...


Read more:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130819/00581624225/50-retiring-senators-now-become-lobbyists-up-3-few-decades-ago.shtml

[onecaliberal]

1. This needs to be illegal.

[think]

3. Indeed. It's so obvious that our political system has been completely corrupted by corporations.

And only one candidate is taking it seriously......

[onecaliberal]

7. And they are not going to go quietly.

[whatchamacallit]

2. Whores

[CentralCoaster]

4. Yup. nt

[beam me up scottie]

5. Corporate whores exist, the only people shocked by that word live in a bubble.

And who in their right mind is more offended by language than the fact that the system is rigged?

This is obscene.

[think]

6. I would hate to offend a politician who sells out their vote for corporate cash.

Perhaps we could call them corporate friends with benefits.

[ScreamingMeemie]

8. When they got to Dean, it broke my ever-loving heart.

We'd be stupid to not see it, to pretend it didn't exist and to spin it into something else.

[beam me up scottie]

10. Me too. I met him, and VOTED for him as my governor.

He was a doctor once, now a lobbyist.

[Bonobo]

9. This is what the Sanders campaign is all about

And this is the biggest difference with Hillary and her Wall Street revolving door.

Do your research. Look at who runs Hillary.